House votes to ban texting while driving

INDIANAPOLIS | The Indiana House on Tuesday approved a statewide ban on sending text messages while driving, while the state Senate voted to impose new penalties for teenagers who send sexually explicit text messages.

The House overwhelmingly approved the texting-while-driving ban, voting 95-3 to send it to the state Senate. State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, will help shepherd the proposal through the Senate.

State Rep. Joe Pearson, D-Hartford City, said texting while driving is especially dangerous, because it takes a driver's eyes off the road, hands off the steering wheel and mind off of driving.

"If we're going to text and drive at the same time it's a very lethal combination," Pearson said. He said more than 6,000 Americans were killed in 2009 due to distracted driving, including texting while driving.

However, some representatives said the texting-while-driving ban won't be effective because it's nearly impossible for police to enforce a ban. The legislation does not specify how a police officer is to tell whether a driver is texting or simply dialing a telephone.

State Rep. Mike Murphy, R-Indianapolis, claimed the only reason the House was considering the bill was because President Barack Obama and talk show host Oprah Winfrey support a texting-while-driving ban.

"When was the last time they drove their own car?" Murphy asked. Murphy voted against the ban.

State Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Lakeville, said the legislation was nothing more than a "feel good bill." Nevertheless, Walorski voted in favor of the measure.

Hoosier drivers younger than 18 are already prohibited from using telephones while driving, including sending text messages. If this measure is signed into law, Indiana would join 19 other states and Washington, D.C., in banning texting while driving for all drivers.

In the Senate on Tuesday, lawmakers created a new option for teenagers charged with sending sexually explicit photographs of themselves via text message, a behavior known as sexting. Technically, the practice amounts to the creation of child pornography.

Rather than charging those teenagers as sex offenders, Senate Bill 224 allows prosecutors to charge them as a juvenile and require them to attend treatment or an educational program with their parent.

The Senate approved the sexting proposal 50-0.